


Bare My Soul

by InterstellarVagabond



Series: My Soul to Keep [1]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: AU, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-20 07:37:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16551683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterstellarVagabond/pseuds/InterstellarVagabond
Summary: What if Juno had a soul? No, not like that don't be mean. What if Juno had a Theia Soul? Ramses doesn't die, Juno doesn't say no to Newtown, and Nureyev comes back to find Mars a changed land.Someone on tumblr asked me what would have happened if Juno gotten a Soul so I had to abide with a little AU. Whether you think Juno took the soul willingly or Mick managed to slap it on him is up to you.





	1. Chapter 1

Juno woke up at exactly 8:15 am.

didn’t need an alarm clock, and his usual groggy stretching and delaying the inevitable moment of feet hitting the cold floor lasted barely seconds. His toes didn’t brush against rolling glass bottles emptied the night prior, his hand didn’t have to search a cluttered bedside table for his eyepatch, and when he stood there was no pounding headache begging him to lay back down.

Juno Steel was happy.

Happy, as an undeniable fact. A measurable unit of joy. Not that he felt the need to measure. He didn’t really feel the need to do much of anything right now besides hop in the shower and start the day.

“Theia, how’s the weather looking?” he asked, tossing aside underwear and stepping into the shower. 

“Today’s weather is mostly dry, 70 degrees fahrenheit, with low chance of dust storms,” Theia chirped happily. Juno nodded like the A.I. could see that, and washed up.

After his shower he took a moment to brush his teeth, shave, looking in the mirror like his reflection had never haunted him. It had been a long time since he could look himself in the eye. The only thing about his appearance that bothered him today was the eyepatch. It had been so childish of him to throw away Mayor O'Flaherty's gift like that. The mayor had told him not to worry though, all was forgiven and Juno’s new Theia would do everything the Spectrum had and more. It was already doing more. Juno could feel the Soul warm on his chest, guiding him back towards his bedroom.

“Lights on,” he said, and the room obeyed. His Newtown apartment was fitted with the kind of home tech most Martian citizens only saw in the reality streams of their richer neighbors. It also had a similar sense of interior design, all whites and glass accents with modern furnishings. 

Juno picked an outfit from his closet, deciding on a pencil skirt and blouse, he wouldn’t be doing a lot of running around today he may as well get into some heels right? This wasn’t his old life where he threw on whatever he found in arm’s reach of the bed and then tossed that old coat over it.

He… didn’t miss that coat. 

A little bit of makeup and some earrings and he was done making himself up for the day. He stepped into the kitchen and started heating up some water for tea. Green tea, it was how most people took their caffeine around here. As he got breakfast ready he heard his comms beep, a call from Mayor O’Flaherty.

“Hey boss, what can I do for you?” he answered.

“Just… checking in, Juno, seeing how you’re adjusting,” Ramses rasped over the line.

“Just fine,” Juno said with a bemused smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“The process can be rather… well for some people it’s such a dramatic change, it can have side effects, you haven’t noticed anything unpleasant?” Ramses asked.

“My life is better than ever, Mayor O’Flaherty,” Juno replied.

“Please, Juno, I wish you wouldn’t call me that. When it’s just us you can call me Ja-”

Juno felt a twinge of pain in his chest, but it was so brief he decided to ignore it.

“Ramses, it’s better if I act professional, you know?” he decided to say. “Hey I gotta go, but I’ll see you at work in a bit.”

“...alright, goodbye Juno,” Ramses sighed.

 

Elias Crowe stepped off a shuttle onto Martian soil at 8:15 am, a little fatigued from the long flight but with a history of travel under his belt the shuttle-lag was nothing he couldn’t handle. Under the mask that was Elias Crowe was a man who spent his whole life on the road, one Peter Nureyev master thief. Today, it was this thief’s mission to secure a piece of technology largely unknown to the world outside Mars save for a select few individuals of power who were very interested to see the benefits and… financial value… of this new device Ramses O'Flaherty had cooked up.

Normally, Nureyev avoided Hyperion City as a general rule. Too many ghosts lurking in the darkened alleyways where drug deals took place. However, one of his powerful friends had called in a favor he couldn’t refuse, and offered a payment equally unrefusable, and so it was that Nureyev found himself back in the city that broke his heart by claiming the heart of another.

He noticed the change immediately, and was rather impressed that the new mayor had managed to turn Hyperion around in just a few short months. Even past the limits of Oldtown now Newtown you could see the influence of the Theia soul and the mayor’s apparently limitless renovation budget. Old dusty buildings were being torn down and replaced with soaring ivory skyscrapers that threatened to overtake the floating mansions. Well, Nureyev never did approve of people sitting up in the sky deciding they were better than everyone on the ground, so that wasn’t all bad.

Nureyev hailed a taxi, destination Newtown, and began to go over his instructions one more time in his head. He couldn’t just rip one of these Souls from the nearest puppet, it was rumored that the trauma would kill the Soul owner. Not to mention it wasn’t exactly subtle. He was to find where the Souls were being produced and take a handful or so from there, without letting on that some other planet’s government was cheating off O’Flaherty.

Nureyev spared a moment to look out the window and was shocked by what he saw.

“This… is Newtown?” he asked the driver.

“Yep, the crown jewel of Hyperion, ain’t it?” the driver said proudly. “I live just over there, you know you should stop by sometime for coffee!”

“Well that’s… very generous but I’ll have to pass, I’m very busy,” Nureyev said, dodging the enthusiastic invitation from a perfect  stranger.

“Not too busy to enjoy the city I hope!” the driver smiled. “You enjoy your stay, sir!”

Nureyev left the taxi, still shocked at the shining buildings before him. However, he had a greater shock waiting for him, because as he turned the corner he came face to face with a lady he thought he would never see again.

And he definitely never thought he would see him clean-shaven, well-rested, and wearing pearls.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got a little carried away and finished chapter two today so may as well post it today too! Enjoy!

“Nureyev,” Juno said, sounding about half as surprised and guilty as he had any right to be.

“Juno,” Nureyev said, sounding twice as confident as he was.

“I… never thought I would see you here,” Juno said, a twinge of pain in his chest that he shook off with the introduction of an invitation. “Hey would you like to grab a coffee and talk maybe? I know I left things… wrong. I’d like to talk.”

If Nureyev’s jaw could drop any lower it would be on the floor. First Juno shows up with his freshest injuries looking months old, then he invites Nureyev to  _ talk _ about  _ feelings _ .

Still, he had nothing to lose. Except maybe his dignity and his heart once more. He had plenty of time to get to the bottom of the Soul and what exactly it was, where it was kept, and what they were using it for. Why not risk igniting an old flame?

“...Alright, lead the way,” he said cautiously. 

Juno smiled, honestly smiled, and gestured for Nureyev to follow. Nureyev walked just an inch behind Juno, close enough to not appear like he was falling behind but far enough to observe the detective. He looked… good. He looked like he’d been sleeping more than he was drinking and he’d cleaned up a considerable amount. Nureyev did miss the trench coat a little with all its stains and holes and character, but Juno looked nice all things considered. 

Juno took him to a coffee shop that looked nicer than the whole of Hyperion City… or rather, the whole of pre-Ramses Hyperion City. It was not the sort of place Juno Steel would frequent. To be honest, Nureyev assumed that despite the invitation to coffee Juno would have taken him to some bar, found some social lubricant to throw back to make the conversation easier. Instead, Juno ordered a tea.

He paid for Nureyev’s americano as well, he even pulled out Nureyev’s chair for him like a proper lady. For a moment, Peter felt like he might have hit his head on the shuttle and this was all just some elaborate dream.

Or nightmare.

“What name are you going by right now?” Juno asked casually, sipping his tea.

“Elias,” Nureyev replied.

“Well, Elias.” Juno looked up at Nureyev, with big wide eyes full of… something. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“You’re… glad?” Nureyev stammered.

“I’ve wanted to reach out to you, I just…” Juno felt that same pain again, and took a sip of his drink. “I suppose I never got around to it. I should have given it more priority and I’m sorry. For that and for what I did. I ran away because I was scared, scared of commitment and new things and I owed you better than that.”

Nureyev leaned forward, looked around Juno at the other patrons, then back at Juno. 

“Are you being coerced right now?” he asked.

“What?” Juno laughed. “Because I’m being honest?”

“Yes,” Nureyev said.

“I’ve just grown up, Elias,” Juno said, a soft smile pulling at his lips. “I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I regret what I did. I wanted to make things right. You know me, I at least try to be the good guy.”

“Yes, you try, you stand up to the big mean world, I know,” Nureyev said. “But… you’ve never actually… done it like this.”

“It’s about time I took responsibility for my actions,” Juno said, and now Nureyev was really suspicious. He looked Juno over, and aside from the recent transformation from scruffy detective to what looked like a perfumed secretary there wasn’t much amiss save for a slight glazing of his eyes. Was it drugs? Maybe he was being blackmailed or threatened? Maybe someone was using him to get close to Nureyev and his contacts? Only one way to find out, keep the conversation going.

“Are you saying… you want to start over?” Nureyev asked, breath hitching slightly on the question.

“Well… not exactly,” Juno said. “I’m sorry, Peter,” he whispered the name, a secret between them both. It occurred to Nureyev, he didn’t think he’d ever heard Juno use his first name before. Not alone, not without being part of a statement or an angry rant. “I’m sorry but, I don’t think we’re good for each other.”

“Oh?” Nureyev felt ice in his veins.

“I’m trying to get my life together, and dating a criminal isn’t exactly together,” Juno chuckled. “Besides, I hurt you, jumping back into a relationship with me wouldn’t be good for you. You get that right?”

Juno put a hand on Nureyev’s arm. “I… don’t want to hurt you, Peter. I… want what’s best for you.”

Nureyev realized Juno’s hand was cupped slightly, like he was holding something there just over the skin of Nureyev’s arm. He quickly grabbed Juno’s wrist, twisting it so the hand opened and exposed a small chip gleaming with red wires like blood-filled veins. Juno gasped whether in pain or surprise, Nureyev didn’t know. He was too focused on the chip, he recognized it from his briefing. This was the Soul, the mystery chip that any source able to get word out from Hyperion City was claiming was the reason for Mayor O’Flaherty’s success in reforming a crime filled city. 

“Peter,” Juno said, but Nureyev cut him off.

“Don’t use my name,” he hissed, snatching the chip from Juno’s hand. 

“It’s not that bad!” Juno said. “It helped me! It could help you!” 

He sounded frantic, almost like he was trying to convince himself as much as Nureyev. Nureyev noticed that the other patrons in the store were watching them, silently and without emotion. Just watching, not stepping in or recording with their comms. 

“It helped you? Helped you how?” Nureyev asked, standing up but keeping a firm grip on Juno’s wrist. Juno’s free hand fluttered to his chest, pressing loosely there. Juno looked at his feet a moment. 

“It made me better. I thought you would like it…” he said quietly.

“I like Juno Steel, I don’t know who you are,” Nureyev said. He let Juno’s wrist go, and pocketed the chip Juno had tried to slap on him. Juno stood up so fast his chair skidded across the ground and toppled over.

“Wait!” he shouted, desperate. “C’mon, P… Elias, let’s just talk! There’s more I wanna say!”

Nureyev turned around for just a moment and that was enough hesitation for someone to grab him. It was the barista who’d made their drinks, grabbing him around the chest and pawing around with what was no doubt another chip. Nureyev tossed an elbow into the barista’s chin, dislodging them easily. The barista grunted slightly, but otherwise didn’t seem to feel it. They righted themselves quickly and stared at Nureyev, opening their mouth to speak with two voices one human one clearly not. 

“Give up control to the Theia Soul,” they said.

It looked like more patrons were on their feet now, slowly approaching Nureyev with glazed eyes and each holding one of those chips. Juno stood there as the patrons walked past him, just letting them approach. He shivered a little, and Nureyev thought he could see a slight frown as he said: “give up control to the Theia Soul.”

Nureyev was sure of it now, this Soul was some sort of brainwashing device. His sources had suspected an emotional regulator or maybe some kind of device designed to shock a citizen when they acted out, but this was… sinister. 

And it had Juno. 

Nureyev bolted for the exit, making his escape quick as he could. He could hear people coming after him, but they wouldn’t have a chance of catching him. He ran into the first alley he came across, climbed a wire fence and took off running as soon as his feet hit the ground on the other side. He heard his pursuers behind him, reaching the fence and crawling up it like something out of a horror movie, he didn’t bother to scan the crowd for Juno if he was there he didn’t want to see it. 

“Hey! Mistah! Down here!”

Nureyev looked down, following a voice that had suddenly called out somewhere near his feet and saw a manhole cover cracked just slightly. A pair of eyes covered by glasses, one lense cracked, were peering out at him. “Oh! I knew it was you! Mistah Glass! Quick, down here!”

Nureyev prefered not to crawl around in the sewers if he had a choice, but the thing was he didn’t seem to have a choice. So he lifted the manhole cover just enough to squeeze down and grab hold of the ladder. 

“Rita, darling, if that is you, I’m sure they’ll be right behind me,” Nureyev said, eyes still adjusting to the dark.

“Wha? Oh no, they won’t. I got it all rigged up, watch,” Rita’s voice came from the dark. Nureyev heard someone try to move the manhole cover and then there was suddenly a crackle of electricity and the sound of someone in pain. It happened twice more before it went silent up above.

“It’s funny really,” Rita said, still invisible in the dark. “Those chips they wanna put on us are so easy to keep out, ya just gotta set up a little field around the area and we got so many engineers down here lemme tell you, and I helped ‘em! Just set it up so if someone with a chip tries to come down it zaps ‘em! Like an electric fence for your doggy or your kitty cat or maybe one of those exotic lizards they got imported from Neptune or…”

“Rita I am so glad to see you,” Nureyev interrupted. “Is what I would say if I could see you.”

“Oh, right, hang on. Just climb on down the ladder and I’ll fix that!” Rita said. Nureyev heard the sound of climbing and then boots hitting the unfortunately wet ground and decided to follow suit. He found the ground and waited a moment before calling out. 

“Rita?”

Suddenly, the area lit up with a dozen or so lights rigged into the walls. Nureyev blinked in the sudden glow, and was surprised to see him and Rita weren’t the only ones in the room… or tunnel rather. 

Rita was standing in front of a group of people, no more than fifteen Nureyev estimated. Some of them were wearing tin-foil hats, some were shivering in business casual, others wore t-shirts with the letters RSSARSTS written on them. Standing behind the people were two enormous rabbits, growling down at Nureyev. A smaller rabbit ran up and sniffed Nureyev for a moment before running back to the crowd. 

“Welcome to Rita’s Super Secret Anti-Robot Soul Thingie Society!” Rita said with a grand gesture. “It’s a working title but we already got the t-shirts so… but anyway, what are you doing back here Mistah Glass? Did Dark Matters send you to save us?”

As Nureyev recollected his memory of that alter ego, he realized the group was looking at him hopefully. He felt a pang of guilt as he answered with a sigh. “No… they didn’t. Rita is there… somewhere we could talk privately? It’s about Juno.” 

Rita’s smile faded, her lips actually started to quiver, and she nodded sadly. “Yeah… yeah, follow me. Let’s get back to base guys… I gotta tell Mistah Glass something.”

 

“You’re late,” Ramses remarked as Juno limped into the office. It appeared one of the heels on his shoes had broken, and he was carrying them as he walked barefoot into the room. 

“Yeah, ran into a little trouble on my way over,” Juno said. 

“Oh?” Ramses couldn’t help the excitement that stole into his voice at Juno’s dark tone.

“Just… an old friend. Someone I thought would make a good citizen but…” Juno sighed. “Maybe not.” his frown faded, and an almost dreamy smile took its place. “Anyway, what’s on the agenda for today boss?”

“This friend of yours, who are they?” Ramses pushed.

“Just a friend, someone I used to know,” Juno said, the pain in his chest growing hotter. “It’s not important, really.”

“You said you tried to convert him, but he got away?” Ramses said.

“Yeah, should I have kept chasing him?” Juno asked.

“I think everyone deserves a chance to see what we’re doing here, don’t you?” Ramses said. He stood from his desk and turned to the bookshelf behind him. He pushed the shelves apart, revealing a wall of screens with surveillance footage from Newtown. Just a way of keeping an eye on things he told himself, certainly not the lair of a supervillain like he would write into some episode of Turbo. Just a nanny-cam so he could make sure everyone was living their best lives. “Juno, you’re… happy now, right?”

“Of course,” Juno said. “I’m happy now.”

Ramses frowned, guilt and doubt stirring up a storm in his stomach. No, this was the right way. Left to his own devices Juno would have drank himself into an early grave if he didn’t get shot on some misguided adventure first. He was miserable, he was angry, now he was happy. 

“I have a press conference later today, I’ll need you on security,” Ramses said. “After that, let’s see if we can’t change your friend’s mind, hm?”

“Of course, boss.” Juno grinned and left Ramses’s office, heading to his own desk just outside. Ramses poured himself a drink, knowing Juno would turn him down if he offered him one. He took a gulp and hoped things were really as happy as they appeared. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guuuuuuuys those comments were so kind, they made me smile like crazy I really appreciate each and every one of them. I hope I can keep giving you a good story <3
> 
> Also, do I make it my business to surround Rita with attractive people in every fic I write with her? Yes. Yes I do.

“Well, this is us,” Rita sighed, gesturing to the scene before them. 

It looked like a junction where the tunnels met, a wide room with some structures made of crates and rotting fabric. There was a fire burning in a metal drum nearby, and a few more members of Rita’s resistance meandering about. It would have looked like a comically stereotypical scene, were the context not so grim. Nureyev noticed that as they entered, he attracted quite a few stares.

“We’ve been down here a real long time now, we really don’t get many new faces,” Rita explained. The little rabbit ran past Nureyev’s legs and jumped into Rita’s arms. Rita barely registered the larger than average animal throwing itself into her, just started scratching it behind the ears. “It’s real hard getting those Theias off people, and most of them really don’t want ‘em off.”

“So it would seem,” Nureyev said, a hand slipping into his pocket to brush against the Theia he’d taken from Juno.

“She’s a friend of Mistah Steel’s, just like you.”

“Huh?” Nureyev was pulled from his thoughts, and looked down to where Rita was holding out the rabbit to him. 

“He was running around down here with her before this all started,” Rita said. “He was gone a real long time with no warning and then next thing I knew he was back here saving rabbits and trying to stop this whole mess. He even apologized to me, it was weird but in a good way! Now things are weird in a bad way.”

Rita shook her head sadly and squeezed the rabbit in a hug. The rabbit made a few whining noises and sniffed around Rita’s face like it was trying to comfort her. 

“Yes, I would have to agree with you on that,” Nureyev said. 

“Anyway,” Rita set the rabbit down and lifted her glasses to scrub at her eyes a little. “You wanted to talk, follow me we’ll go where the others can’t hear.”

Rita gestured for Nureyev to follow and led him into the corner, sitting on an upturned box and offering another to him. He sat down, and thought carefully about what he was going to say.

“Rita, I wasn’t sent by Dark Matters,” he started.

“I know,” Rita sighed. “I was kinda hoping the spy thing was like a part-time  job, but I guess being a thief pays pretty well on its own huh?”

“Well… wait, what did you say?”

“Oh, I know who you are,” Rita chuckled, waving her hands dismissively. “Mistah Steel never keeps his desk drawers locked, and well, I can be a little bit of a snoop but to be fair if I didn’t snoop in Mistah Steel’s stuff he would get into a lot of trouble sometimes! I find some stuff in that desk lemme tell ya, it’s not always love letters and secret snacks and…”

“You found my letter?” Nureyev sighed. “Oh Juno, you were never good at discretion.”

“Aw, it ain’t his fault,” Rita said. “He’s just sentimental. He tried to get rid of it a few times. One time I heard him shouting, and I came into the office and he was hanging half out the window trying to get it back. He was real embarrassed, tried to say he’d just slipped but you can’t slip one by ol’ Rita. Anyway, once I had your name I just did a little research and… yeah.” 

“Okay, it’s a little disheartening to know years of aliases and sneaking around were undone by one note left in an unlocked drawer,” Nureyev said.

“Oh, it probably wasn’t that easy, I’m just real good at that kinda stuff,” Rita said. “Computers and finding things and people and stuff. I was the one that figured out how to pop those Theia thingies off.”

“You know how to remove them?” Nureyev asked.

“Well sure, we almost got one off Mr. Mercury before…” Rita trailed off. “Well… before Mistah Steel started wearing one anyway.”

Nureyev felt his shoulders slouch. The image of Juno in the coffee shop was burned into his mind and was leaving a sour taste in his mouth. “You know, it just doesn’t suit him.”

“Yeah, whoever that guy is up there… it’s not Mistah Steel,” Rita said. “Mistah Steel ain’t around, and we gotta get him back. I mean… you are gonna help… right?” 

Rita looked up at him with big hopeful eyes. It occured to Nureyev that this was the second person in the whole universe he was now trusting with his identity. She’d done her research, she knew about Brahma. She knew about his past life as teenage revolutionary and folk hero before he turned to the more lucrative and self-sustaining world of crime. Somehow, he felt she was asking that Peter Nureyev, the would-be hero, not the thief that came to Mars to profit off a machine that enslaved people.

“Well… we can hardly leave Juno in that state, can we?” Nureyev said. “He’s lost without us, Rita. Besides, I want a real apology. Not some emotionally mature speech from a puppet, I want scowling and stammering and… sincerity.”

“Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” Rita launched herself at Nureyev, wrapping him in a huge that lifted him off his seat. “Rita and Peter, on a mission to save Mistah Steel! It’ll be just like a movie!”

  
  


Juno Steel was becoming a public figure.

You could see him in practically all of Mayor O'Flaherty's speeches and appearanes, standing in the background with his arms folded behind him. His weapon was never… obvious per se, but it was present. A silent stalwart while Ramses explained his plans, justified, or charmed the audience.  And there in the background, was always Juno. 

“I believe we have time for one more question,” Ramses asked.

“Mayor O’Flaherty!” A reporter cried out, waving a microphone. “People are saying the success of Newtown and the Theia Soul program are due to mind altering technology, what do you have to say to these accusations?”

“I can understand the fear people are having,” Ramses began. “With all the wild sci fi streams these days, it’s easy to imagine this all as some evil brainwashing cult!”  Ramses chuckled, spurring a chuckle from the audience as well. “However, I want to reassure you. The Theia Soul does not change your brain or control your thoughts. It’s designed to help you become the best you that you can be. It makes you more yourself, quite the opposite of brainwashing. Besides, the program is entirely voluntary, and look at its success in Newtown! Not one citizen turned the Theia down, and life couldn’t be better.”

The audience exploded into questions again, and that was Juno’s cue to step towards the podium and lead Ramses away. He leaned forward to give the audience a final “no more questions” and that’s when the first gunshot rang out. Juno pushed Ramses to the ground and drew his own weapon, staring out into the screaming panicked crowd. Another gunshot, and a sizable chunk of the podium by Juno’s shoulder was reduced to splinters. Juno followed the shot and saw a woman in the crowd with a pistol, marching up towards them with determination and tears in her eyes.

“You put her back!” the woman said, firing again. The shot missed Ramses just barely. Juno kicked over the podium to provide the mayor with some cover while he jumped down off the stage to face the woman, his gun held out in front of him.

“Hands up, lady, don’t make this hard,” he said.

“He changed her!” the woman yelled. “I want her put back. I want my wife back.”

“Drop the weapon!” Juno shouted back. 

“I love her… and that stranger in our home isn’t her anymore,” the woman said, and she raised her gun one more time. 

Juno fired, a stun round right in the woman’s chest. She collapsed to the ground, her gun clattering across the ground. Juno stopped it with his foot, grabbing it and tossing it out of the way. 

“Is it over?” Ramses asked, panting and struggling to right himself over on the platform. 

“Yes, sir.” Juno ran over and helped Ramses to his feet, before heading back to the woman to check her pulse and put handcuffs on her. 

“Sir?” Ramses’s mouth turned into a frown. “I definitely don’t like that.”

At this point police cars were starting to pull up. When they saw the woman in cuffs at Juno’s feet, the atmosphere got a bit less excited. An officer helped pull the woman to her feet, and stick her in a car. The cops spared a few glares for Juno but otherwise the usual banter died cold on their tongues. They knew better than to try and get a few shots in now. It was no fun taunting Steel anymore. He just apologized, or stayed silent. 

“I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” Juno said, heading back towards Ramses. “Let’s get you back to the office.”

Ramses had employed a driver once, but now Juno had that role. They’d decided it was better for security that way, to keep the amount of people in the car to a minimum. The once detective had his work cut out for him: bodyguard, driver, partner in good. Surely, this was better than a two-bit detective agency and skulking around in the bushes in pursuit of cheating spouses.

“That woman… she was very upset,” Ramses said, making eye contact with Juno in the rear view mirror. He leaned back into the plush leather seats, turning to watch the scenery of Newtown go by. His Newtown, his accomplishment.

“Well, she’s in custody now,” Juno replied evenly. 

“She’s not the first to have her complaints… some people have very violent reactions to the Soul program, I wonder if there will be many more protests as we progress,” Ramses sighed.

“They won’t protest long.” Juno shrugged. 

“Why do you say that?” Ramses asked.

“I mean… it works. They’ll see,” Juno said simply. 

“I was rather hoping for a stronger argument than that, Juno,” Ramses groaned. He waited for the reply, some snarky comment or pointed remark. Instead, he got another shrug and silence as Juno turned into the parking lot. 

“You know… sometimes I think I improved your life and wasted your mind,” Ramses muttered to himself. 

Juno didn’t seem to hear, or if he did he didn’t say anything. He just got the door for Ramses and helped him out. Made some comment about fetching Ramses’s medicine for him when they got inside. Crisis averted, it was back to business as usual.

 

“So, we have everything we need to get rid of those Theias, we just can’t get to the network,” Rita said. She’d gathered the RSSARSTS, and was now leaning over a table that had seen better days (no doubt the reason someone had saw fit to throw it into the sewer) on which she had stretched out a sheet of paper she’d written ‘plans’ on. She’d insisted that even though they didn’t have the blueprints for the new town hall, there was a way these things were done and she just couldn’t think straight if they weren’t doing it the right way. 

“Network?” Nureyev asked.

“They function sort of like primitive Earth wifi,” one of the RSSARSTS members spoke up. “They all… talk to each other, and they have to keep updating, so the mayor keeps them all connected to one main Theia system in the new town hall.”

“Taking them off one person at a time takes too long,” a different member said. “But if we could get to the main system, Rita’s devised a virus that would take the whole thing down.”

“Well, I suppose that is where I come in,” Nureyev ran a hand through his hair and straightened his clothes, already feeling more confident. This was his comfort zone, the world of break-ins and heists. “If we don’t have any actual floor plans then we’ll be literally in uncharted territory. We’ll need an idea of the security system, luckily these sewers open up all over the city so getting close won’t be too hard. There’s the matter of the Theias patrolling the tunnels but I’m sure the lovely Rita will take care of them.”

“Yeah, she will!” a rather muscular man cheered, slapping Rita on the back. Rita blushed and stammered a little much to Nureyev’s amusement.

“Tonight we’ll size up the building, and if we find it safe to make a move then there’s no reason to wait. Too many people are waiting for our help,” Nureyev said. 

“What should we do?”

The voice was a lot younger than Nureyev was prepared for, and when he locked eyes with the question asker he saw they couldn’t have been more than thirteen. Nureyev shuddered, concealing his sudden discomfort with a smile. “Stay here. The less people in the building the better. You’ll back us up if we need it but… we’re hoping to not need it.”

“Just me, Mistah Glass, and Small Fry’s team!” Rita said excitedly. “Lone heroes… no! Spies! No! Hero spies!”

There was some chuckling at Rita’s excitement, which was good because it was at that moment that Nureyev’s burner comms beeped. He stepped aside a moment to check the message. It was from his current employer, just one word. More of a demand than a question. 

UPDATE?

Nureyev slipped a hand into his pocket and felt the Theia Soul there. Such a small thing that had such a big impact on Mars already. He thought about what the universe could do with that kind of power, and he felt sick. He thought about what his employer would do to him if he failed to bring him what he wanted and he felt sick. Then he thought about the last time he was stuck between a moral rock and a fatal hard place. 

Duke and Dahlia Rose, the personas he’d crafted just to annoy Juno, robbing the train of a weapon that could never fall into the wrong hands. Then it did, and who saved the day but Juno Steel. 

“Does it always have to come to this you impossible person?” Nureyev chuckled to himself. “The end of the world, a moral quandary, and us?”

Nureyev tossed the Theia Soul onto the ground and crushed it under his heel. His comms were soon to follow. He could worry about that later, find a way to disappear. For now, he had a heist to plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter for now, but I think I'm gonna keep writing I was just anxious to get this posted cause I'm actually a little proud of it despite it being so cheesy. Might post another chapter later tonight but don't hold me to it!

Juno hadn’t had a productive day, and it was starting to annoy him.

Usually he could go through paperwork like it was nothing, he just thought about the good him and the mayor were doing and it didn’t matter how many hours he had to put in he would get it done. Today, however, he found himself distracted.

He kept staring off into space, and when he realized he was doing it he would come back to his thoughts not remembering what it was he was thinking about. His desk was covered in work, the kind of thing he used to bring home with him and eventually lose track of back in his P.I. days. He’d had Rita and her backup files to save him when a file he brought home ended up missing and unfinished because he got bored or frustrated and decided to go to sleep or zone out to some stream instead. Nowadays he had a higher work ethic, or so he thought. He stayed at the new town hall until he was done for the day, and he wasn’t done for the day until he could feel it in his soul.

_Don’t you mean Soul capital S you zombie?_

Juno’s brow furrowed, and he squeezed his eye shut. He could feel a migraine coming on.

_Good! You should hurt. Heh, remember the good old days when people accused us of being self destructive? And now here we are only looking out for number one._

“Shut up…” Juno muttered to himself. In the darkness behind his eyelid he could see himself, a phantom still in that damn coat covered in the grime of the sewers, a bandage tied messily over one eye.

 _Number one being Jack, of course,_ Juno said. _That asshole has you eating out of the palm of his hand like some spoiled lapdog._

“We’re doing good, could be doing good, if you weren’t distracting me,” Juno replied bitterly.

 _Like the good you did at the rally this morning?_ Juno scoffed. _That woman couldn’t aim for shit, she was like 5”2 and she was crying and you shot her. You shot her because she missed her wife!_

“She was attacking the mayor!” Juno reasoned. “She was a danger to herself and others! I had to take her down!”

 _You liked taking her down, you stunned that poor woman and you were thrilled that you did something good for “Mister Mayor”_ Juno spat. _A pet, awaiting praise, a trained venusian monkey doing tricks for peanuts._

“What was I supposed to do? Let her keep firing?” Juno shouted. He stood up, pacing in the darkness, his hands waving wildly. “Our job is to stop the bad guys and help the good ones, something you wouldn’t know about! You loved crime, you got into bed with crime, literally!”

 _Yeah, about that,_ Juno said, clenching his fists. _You try a stunt like that one this morning in the cafe one more time and that little heartburn you’ve been getting will feel like a pleasant memory._

“I was going to help him!” Juno argued, and immediately he doubled over in pain, his chest aching. The phantom Juno in front of him stared him down with an eye so furious it almost looked like flames danced around it.

_Don’t you touch him. Not Nureyev, not Rita, you don’t touch them you don’t go near them, you don’t even think about them._

“You want them to keep living in pain?” Juno panted, righting himself. “You’re scared because you hurt them and you think they won’t love you anymore, but people move on. People forgive. Something you were too blind and bitter and hateful to see! All they need is a push in the right direction, that’s all you needed.”

 _We’ve never known what we needed!_ Juno argued. _We think we do, we think we just need one more drink, one more closed case, one more night on my own, but it’s never really what we need. We always learn better, and we learn from our mistakes. This… this domestic idyllic bullshit is just a blanket tossed over a big mess we’ve made and don’t wanna look at anymore. This isn’t what we need._

“Like you would know,” Juno said. “What have you done with this body your whole life? Besides gotten high and drunk and miserable, hurt yourself, hurt others, _murdered_ -”

_Don’t you fucking dare._

“You’re a killer, you’ve killed in cold blood. I stunned that woman this morning, but I didn’t kill her, and I didn’t feel revenge and anger flowing in my veins like you did when you killed the Piranha.”

_No, you just felt oh so happy to kiss up to the boss, and oh, you also felt nothing at all! You felt nothing when that woman was crying, clearly hurting._

“She won’t hurt for long,” Juno said, standing up straight and throwing his shoulders back. “She’ll be fitted with a Soul, and all her pain will be gone. Like our pain should be. Stop holding onto it. Give it up, Juno. We can be free, you’re the only thing stopping us.”

 _Yeah, and it’s taking everything I’ve got,_ Juno admitted with a bitter chuckle. _I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last… and then it’ll just be you alone in this skull of ours. I’m… afraid, of what you’ll do when I’m gone._

“I’ll be happy,” Juno hissed through gritted teeth. “And you’ll be nothing but a bad memory.”

Juno stepped forward, walked through the phantom Juno and dispersed him like a cloud of fog. He opened his eye, back in his office standing in front of his desk. Alone.

His chest ached vaguely, like an old burn aggravated by the sun. He knew if he were to inspect his Soul he would see the skin around it red and scarred. He’d woken up to that pain before, seen the scars as he stepped into the shower. It wouldn’t be like that forever. Once he was strong enough to get rid of that… misanthropic dick sharing his head, he would be free of pain and he would be happy.

“Juno? Would you come here a moment?”

The intercom on his desk crackled to life and Ramses’s voice rasped through it. Juno walked over and pressed the reply button. “Sure thing, on my way,” he answered.

He took a moment to straighten himself out, rumpled clothes and hair out of place. He took a deep breath and left to go see what good his boss needed him to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is called "Tina can't write action scenes and yes I just made Nureyev do the Black Widow sexy leg attack so sue me I think he could pull it off" aka "I'm sorry I promise Small Fry is going to be okay"

Juno left his office, and Rita almost blew their cover right then and there when she saw him. She opened her mouth to say something and Nureyev clasped a hand over it. They were both peeking around a doorway into the hallway Juno had just walked down. Nureyev had insisted it would be better for him to enter the building alone until they were sure of the security measures, but Rita was much better at insisting and very hard to shake. 

Once Juno was gone, Nureyev removed his hand and Rita immediately began to whisper. 

“Did you see him? He looks like he showered!” she exclaimed, and despite the situation that did make Nureyev laugh a little. 

“He was wearing pearls!” he added.

“He changed his earrings!” Rita gasped. “He’s worn the same pair of earrings for three years! Never changes ‘em, never takes ‘em out, I thought he’d forgotten he had them!”

“There were no bags under his eyes!” Nureyev said. 

“You don’t think…” Rita said.

“I think he’s sleeping eight hours a night!” Nureyev said, and the pair laughed for a moment before remembering all too clearly how much Juno has changed and what was behind it. Their laughter fell to a somber silence. 

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?” Nureyev asked.

“Since this all started really,” Rita sighed. “I saw him once, a few weeks after he got that nasty thing. I was on the surface getting food, and he walked right by me. He didn’t even notice me, he looked like he didn’t notice anything…”

Rita sniffled, looking down at her feet. Nureyev put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey. We’ll stop this. He’ll be binge drinking and yelling at us before we know it.”

“That’s so nice of you to say!” Rita practically sobbed, pulling Nureyev in for a rib crushing hug. 

“Now listen, it was easy enough to get in but getting to the control room is something else.” Nureyev extracted himself from the hug and straightened his clothes. “I need you to stay right behind me, don’t say anything don’t make a sound, don’t move until I signal you to move. Okay?”

“Sure thing, boss!” Rita grinned. Nureyev wondered when he’d earned that promotion. He stepped out into the hallway, glancing both ways before gesturing for Rita to follow. The building wasn’t too big but it had enough rooms that it would take some time for them to find the right one. Nureyev suspected it would be lower down, away from all the nice offices with the plush carpets and the paintings on the walls. They would need to find a stairwell. 

Nureyev took Rita’s hand and led her quickly down the hallway.

 

When Juno came in, Ramses was sitting by the fireplace with a scotch in one hand and a tablet in the other. He gestured for Juno to take the armchair beside his own and scrolled through whatever he was looking at on the tablet. 

Juno hovered by the chair a moment before actually sitting down. It felt… strange, passing the time with Ramses like they were old friends. He supposed they were old friends, Ramses… Jack had known Juno longer than anyone else. He was the closest thing he had to family anymore. 

Maybe that was why it felt so strange to be near him as more than just an employee. He never really just hung out with Sarah, and he didn’t have a dad either. Maybe a part of him was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, to piss Ramses off so bad he couldn’t take Juno anymore and these evening chats turned into reprimands and cold instructions. 

“The woman from this morning,” Ramses began, and Juno started upright. “She’s been fitted with a Soul and returned home to her wife, who missed her dearly. You reunited them, Juno. Apparently, that woman had been wandering around homeless for some time now. If it weren’t for you, she’d still be sleeping in the cold risking her life and her marriage out of… unfounded fear of progress.”

Juno felt a swell of pride in his chest, tainted only by that voice in the back of his head that made a disgusted noise and made his chest ache.

“I’m… glad,” he managed to say when he saw Ramses looking for a reaction. 

“You’ve been performing admirably, and I’m proud of how far you’ve come,” Ramses said, and Juno actually smiled. “That is why… I feel I can trust you with this next assignment.”

“What is it?” Juno asked. 

“Your former secretary. Rita, was it? She has been making a bit of a nuisance of herself.” Ramses set his drink on the end table and handed the tablet over for Juno to see. It was a scan of the sewers, no doubt from the Theia bots patrolling down there. “She’s running a resistance movement underground. Nothing we can’t handle, at worst she’s been removing Souls from individuals. Honestly, I’m more worried for her safety than the safety of those she’s affecting.”

“Rita…” Juno sighed, rubbing at his temples. 

“I need you to bring them in. I’ve got a number of my personal men on the police force briefed on the mission already, they will accompany you. The base isn’t far, practically under the building believe it or not. Bring them in as peacefully as you can but… if you feel you need to use force… the Theia Soul will of course repair any fatal damage.”

Juno’s Soul was burning in his chest, his heart pounding. When he opened his mouth he half expected his other voice to answer, but instead he just said: “Understood. Rita she… always was trouble.”

“I’m glad I can count on you for this, Juno.” Ramses leaned forward and put a hand on Juno’s arm. “My partner in good.”

Juno swallowed, and mentally built a barrier around the battered P.I. screaming in his thoughts. 

 

Nureyev and Rita had searched about five rooms so far and no luck. Nureyev wasn’t worried though, they were able to stay within the blind spots of the cameras and out of the way of late night workers chatting amicably as they walked down the hall to their offices. There was almost one altercation, when Rita saw the young man serving as Juno’s secretary and demanded vengeance and ‘proof she was the alpha secretary’ but otherwise things were calm. It took them awhile to navigate however, thanks to all the Soul powered workers putting in long dedicated hours they spent more time hiding than searching. It had been almost an hour since they’d entered, and it was starting to seem like time was the only thing not on their side.

They slipped into another room, the last one in that hall. It was a small room illuminated with a low red light coming from a screen set just in front of a wall of screens and boxes and wires. 

“Well, this certainly looks like an evil mind control hub to me,” Nureyev said with a chuckle. “Rita?”

“Oh yeah, this is it alright!” Rita said, pulling her backpack off and unzipping it. She reached around inside it for her supplies, and was readying them when her comms started beeping.

“I told you to silence that!” Nureyev hissed.

“I did! It’s the emergency ringer!” Rita whispered back, fumbling with her comms and finally answering it despite Nureyev’s gestures that she should absolutely not do that. “Rita speaking!”

“Rita! You’ve gotta come back, it’s chaos down here!” came a panicked voice from the other end. “The rabbits are trying their best but they can’t hold up for long! They’ve already got Jeremiah and-”

The sound of gunfire and rabbit screaming cut them off, and the line went dead. Rita looked up at Nureyev, terrified. 

“Rita, we have to finish what we came here to do,” Nureyev said. “If we deactivate the souls it will save them all.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Rita asked. “Not everyone in Hyperion is wearing one of those thingies yet! They might just be doing this cause they were told to! We gotta help my guys they… they… need me! Hacking the systems will take too long i-if something happens to them while I’m working I…” 

Nureyev groaned, weighing his options. He thought about the first mission he’d ever… ‘failed.’ He hadn’t been willing to sacrifice the few to save the many then, was he really about to do it now?

“Fine, let’s hurry, if it takes us as long to get back as it did to get here we’ll be too late,” Nureyev said, helping Rita gather her equipment back into her bag. “Quick, stay by me.”

As they left he hoped they wouldn’t regret this, he tried to tell himself that they could get into the building again that this was a successful recon mission that they knew where the room was now. Despite this, all he felt was that they were making a big mistake.

 

Juno stunned another rabbit, not even looking at the target. The smell of singed fur filled the air, unpleasant but irrelevant. Another rabbit ran at him, and Juno made use of how the Soul amplified his muscles and reflexes. He rammed an elbow into the rabbit’s throat, and while it was gasping for breath he pressed his gun to its chest and fired a stun round. 

“What, nothing to say?” he asked himself. 

_ Would you listen? _ Came the scathing response. 

Juno smirked and stepped over the stunned rabbit at his feet. The visibility in the sewers wasn’t ideal, but the targets weren’t much of a threat. His orders were clear, stun the rabbits and bring in the humans. Already the officers working with him had a great deal of people in cuffs. Missing from the lineup was Juno’s former secretary.

Part of him was sick at the thought of coming across Rita down here, but the Soul pulsed through his body and reassured him that this was for her own good. She would be happy. She could even have her old job back, they could have movie nights again. She’d like the Soul, she was always a sucker for a bit of shiny tech. Her initial reaction to it was just unfounded fear. She’d adjust. 

Juno moved through the tunnels, heading for the flicker of firelight he could see up ahead.

 

Nureyev and Rita ran as fast as they could, hands clasped together so they wouldn’t lose each other in the dark. At the sound of a police radio, Nureyev turned and pulled Rita down another tunnel. They ran until they saw the shadow of a rifle creeping down the tunnel, then they switched directions again. Nureyev felt for the false seam in his jacket, popped it easily and pulled out a knife he’d managed to conceal for the shuttle ride. The fine guards at the metal detector were always so understanding when Nureyev detailed that painful surgery and the metal implants he’d gone through after the accident. 

He wished he had more, but his luggage was still being delivered after being lost somewhere during the layover at Earth. That was the last time he flew Delta Interplantery. 

Knife in hand, Nureyev was ready for whatever the main room would have in store for them. Or at least, he thought he was ready. He was expecting the police, maybe some mercenaries, a platoon of Theia wearing zombies but not the Theia wearing zombie in front of them now. 

Juno was perched on a pile of debris, stunning down Rita’s team as they fled for cover. The police were running into the room, they’d cornered a few people. Fire bathed the room in orange, and cast shadows on the faces of the attackers that made them look all the more evil. 

“Small Fry!” Rita gasped, and Nureyev looked over to see the rabbit cornered by a sneering officer, his rifle right in the young rabbit’s face. “Don’t kill him! He might just be doing what that Soul thingie tells him to do!” Rita said, tugging on Nureyev’s arm when she saw him ready to act.

Nureyev hefted his knife, calculated the throw so it wouldn’t hit anything vital and threw it. The knife lodged in the man’s arm, causing him to yank his gun away and yell out in pain. Before he could react, Nureyev was on him knocking him to the ground and retrieving his knife and pushing officer’s helmet off so he could bash the handle against the man’s temple. 

Small Fry ran up to Rita and jumped into her arms, whimpering sadly. Rita spared a moment to run a hand down the rabbit’s fur, but then she saw what had set the blood in Nureyev’s veins to ice the moment they entered the room. 

“Mistah Steel,” she gasped.

Juno jumped down from his perch, staring Rita and Nureyev down. One of Rita’s teammates, the muscled man that had made her blush earlier, ran at Juno the minute he saw him approach. Juno struggled with him a moment, which gave Nureyev the time he needed to pull Rita away.

They nearly walked right into an officer, so Nureyev twisted Rita about and pushed her the other direction. The muscled man was losing, Juno knocked him over and stunned him on the ground. Then he turned, eye blazing towards Nureyev and Rita. Nureyev frowned and adjusted his grip on his knife. With the one officer approaching from the left and Juno in front of them, Rita holding Small Fry behind him, it wasn’t looking good. 

But then again those were his usual odds. 

Nureyev pushed Rita towards a group of barrels. “Take cover!” he yelled before running at the officer. He hit the ground at the last second and slid by, sweeping the man’s legs out from under him. He got up and slammed the man’s head into the ground. Juno fired what was no doubt a warning shot by Nureyev’s head, the blast hot as it brushed past his skin. Nureyev ducked behind the barrels where he’d hidden Rita. He saw the people who had been cornered earlier being led away at gunpoint and ran for them. 

He struggled with the brutes there longer than he would have liked, not killing was slowing him down. These people were wearing SWAT gear and he was wearing a suit and carrying a knife he couldn’t even properly use. Still, it appeared he had a better grasp of hand to hand combat than they did. 

He leapt at one of them, tangling their throat in his legs and pulling them to the ground where he held them till they stopped moving. He threw his knife at another, pinning them between the eyes with the handle. 

“Go!” he shouted at the RSSARSTS members he’d just freed. “Split up and take the tunnels out!”

“Mistah Glass!” Rita yelled, and Nureyev turned back to see Juno standing over her and Small Fry with his gun drawn and a blank expression on his face. 

 

“Pull the trigger!” part of him yelled.

_ Are you insane? _ Another part screamed. 

A memory played in his head, Mick laying in his lap with a still heart. Juno’s hand trembled, he was showing unnecessary reluctance. Mick was fine, he’d seen him last Tuesday. The Theia Soul restarted his heart and he was living happily! He had a job! He had hobbies outside that damn death trap of a bike!

While he hesitated, something collided with him, pushing him to the ground. Juno lashed out, struck whoever was attacking him across the face with his gun. They rolled, and Juno had barely enough time to aim his weapon before his assailant pushed him over and put a knife to his throat. 

“Don’t make me do this, Juno,” Nureyev said. 

“Why are you two fighting me?” Juno replied, sounding heartbroken. That trembling voice made Nureyev freeze and in that moment Juno grabbed Nureyev’s arm and pushed it away, rolling out from underneath him and aiming his gun again.

“Rita, we need to leave,” Nureyev said, holding out his hand. Rita took it and the pair of them just barely managed to dodge Juno’s next shot as they turned and ran for the nearest tunnel. 

Their footsteps were loud and wet through the sewer, and they could hear Juno pursuing them even if they couldn’t see him in the dark. Small Fry clung to Rita’s chest, whimpering, as Nureyev led them round endless twists and turns. 

 

Juno swore as he chased after Nureyev and Rita. His lungs barely felt the burn, the Soul powered him and let him run faster than he ever had in his life. They were going to get hurt running through the dark like that. This place was a maze and a minefield to those who didn’t know it, he should have stunned them when he had the chance. Why did he keep hesitating? All he had to do was bring them in, they’d be happy… like him.

 

Nureyev found himself face to face with a wall of metal bars, caging off the area. He turned and ran the other direction, still hearing Juno’s footsteps pounding not far behind them.

He was terrifying, like a machine dedicated to hunting them down. Nureyev had never seen Juno fight like that before, he was always more of a bruiser. He fought like someone used to bar fights and childhood batterings not the calculated movements he’d just seen, and he was so fast. Juno got winded if there were too many flights of stairs, he had bad lungs and it had been a few years since the academy got him into shape. How was he keeping up with them like this?

Nureyev turned a corner and right into the barrel of a gun, pressed into his chest. It wasn’t Juno, just one of the people working with him. Nureyev put his hands up, dropping his knife on the ground where it clattered against the cobblestone. Rita let Small Fry drop to the ground, putting her hands up too. 

“We’ve got the last of them,” the woman said into her radio. “Bringing them up now.”

“Nice work,” Juno said, walking up just behind them. “Mayor O'Flaherty wants them at the cells at Town Hall, keep them close to Newtown so they can get fitted right away.”

“Roger that,” the woman said. “C’mon, you two. Let’s move it.”

Rita’s lips quivered, and for a moment Nureyev thought it was just their capture making her frown but then he saw the rabbit sniffing around Juno’s ankles. Small Fry pawed at Juno’s leg, questioning grunts and whimpers emanating from her mouth. Juno looked down at her and gently nudged her aside with his foot. When she ran back he sighed and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. 

“Don’t hurt her!” Rita screamed. 

“I’m not going to, calm down,” Juno said. “I’m not the bad guy here.” He looked Small Fry in the eyes, his expression unreadable. “Go home,” he ordered the rabbit, walking a ways down the tunnel before putting her down and pushing her gently away. Small Fry whined and tried to run back towards him, but Juno pulled his gun and fired a shot in the air to scare her off. Small Fry took off running, wailing the whole way. Rita covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head. 

“That is not Mistah Steel…” she muttered. Nureyev remained silent, trying to come to terms with the mix of fury and concern that was boiling in his chest. He didn’t have time to feel things about their situation. They were being taken to Town Hall and that meant they’d end up right where they needed to be. He had to start planning, maybe there was still a chance to turn this around.

He tried not to feel dread as Juno walked by them, without even sparing a glance.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay I wasn't expecting to power through and write the last chapters like this, but since I have it all written already and am too forgetful to post them one by one let's just update crazy fast huh? This story just flew out of my fingertips and I hope it turned out good, that it wasn't just me being so excited that I had the inspiration and motivation to write again that made me feel so confident about it
> 
> Thanks again for everyone who's commented, and please keep commenting if you have stuff to say! Thanks for reading <3

Juno poured himself a drink for the first time since the Soul had touched his chest. He raised it to his lips and then put it down again. He did it again. And again. 

It felt like his chest was on fire, and all he wanted was for the Soul or the bourbon to take it all away but neither of them was working. He couldn’t make himself drink and the Soul was just burning away uselessly. 

Small Fry had been so scared… Rita, he made Rita cry, and Nureyev? God, he’d imagined that cold glare in so many of his nightmares but he never imagined he would have earned it for more than just ghosting the man.

_ Go ahead and drink, not much you can do to fix things now. May as well make them worse and get a good night’s coma out of it, _ Juno said.

“Why are you still here?” Juno asked. “When did I even start talking to you?”

_ You’re having doubts, I’m just the voice you’re hearing them in,  _  Juno replied.  _ Go ahead. Drink. _

Juno raised the glass to his lips and froze again. He growled and tossed it across the room, the glass shattering and the booze staining the carpet. 

_ Yeah, that was really emotionally stable,  _ Juno snorted.  _ You really think this Soul is any good for you? You’re not making your own decisions anymore. You’re not you anymore. _

“Well maybe that’s a good thing!”Juno clutched at his hair with one hand, gestured with the other, tears rising in his eyes. “Maybe it’s better if I’m better if I’m not me anymore!”

_ Wow… I really sound like that. _

Juno sat in silence with himself awhile, leaning back against his desk like if it wasn’t there he would topple over. 

_ I don’t know about you, but I’m getting real tired of my problems making problems for everyone else. _

“We’re helping them,” Juno argued uselessly.

_ People you care about are in a cell and you put them there. You know what’s going on here isn’t on the level. I know… I know it means losing your happiness your sobriety your big step forward into mental stability and… losing Ramses but I think maybe those are things we should be finding on our own anyway. Not just plugging in a chip and having them, maybe family and health and joy are things you’re supposed to earn. _

“And you think we’ve earned them?” Juno sighed.

_ Beating ourself up isn’t going to help right now, we can do it later, preferably coping poorly alone where no one can see us cry, _ Juno had humor in his voice, he was trying to coax himself out.  _ Right now we need to focus. How are we going to help them? _

Juno was supposed to be waiting for Ramses, ready to brief him. He took a step towards the door instead. The pain in his chest flared up, and he felt a beautiful anger as he moved towards the door. The pain got worse and worse, and he crumpled to the ground just before the door. He reached up for the doorknob, and suddenly the pain peaked. His vision went white and then… it was gone. 

Juno ran a hand under his shirt, he felt the Theia cold against his skin. He didn’t have long.

 

Nureyev searched the cell for anything he could use. The lock was advanced, no doubt another Theia system of some sort. They’d taken their comms, weapons, anything that could have been useful. Rita didn’t really look up to hacking right now even if she had something to work with. Nureyev couldn’t blame her. 

Every few minutes or so one of the RSSARSTS would walk by, a smile on their face, and promise Rita it wouldn’t be long before they let her out. 

“We were being silly, really!” the muscled man from before, Jeremiah as Nureyev had just learned his name was, said. “Hey, once this is all over and you have your Theia, we can finally go get coffee like real surface people. It’ll be nice, right?”

Rita didn’t answer, she turned away from the bars and not even that was enough to make her suitor frown. Instead Jeremiah just gave Nureyev a friendly wave and was on his way. 

Nureyev paused a moment in his plans. It was important to get out of there but… Rita looked… heartbroken. 

“...you know this isn’t the stickiest situation I’ve ever found myself in,” Nureyev said, keeping his tone casual and friendly. “One time, I was robbing a casino with a few associates, and I accidentally got myself engaged to the owner. I was supposed to seduce him, but we never imagined he was the type to propose after three dates. I was halfway to the altar by the time I got the message that the vault was emptied, I ran out of there with my veil flying behind me and half a church trying to figure out what was going on!”

Rita didn’t answer, so Nureyev kept going.

“There was this other time, I was crawling through a vent when I came face to face with…” he paused, he could see Rita wasn’t really feeling it. He decided to change tactics. “... you know, I was there when Juno lost his eye.”

Rita looked surprised, and turned to face him. “What?”

“He’d needed my help to locate ancient Martian artifacts, and I needed his help to make sure one such artifact never fell into the wrong hands.” Nureyev started, feeling his chest tighten as he spoke. “He saved my life… the self sacrificial idiot, he did it twice. Pointed a gun at his own head to keep me alive, faced off against a mutant in a room with a bomb going off just to keep it all sealed off from the rest of the world… to keep me safe…”

Nureyev told her the story, and Rita hung onto every word. Every now and then she would laugh or gasp or cry out ‘no way!’ and Nureyev would smile and keep talking. 

“He broke my heart that one…” Nureyev sighed. “Rule number one of the heist, don’t fall in love with a mark… but I fell in love with Juno Steel… and I think he fell in love with me too even if he had a funny way of showing it. I always meant to… forgive him I suppose. We were running from disaster and our adrenaline was doing the talking and I could have found a compromise between ‘roam the stars with me forever’ and ‘never see me again’ but… then again, he could have left a note.”

“Not really my style, I’m a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of lady.”

Nureyev and Rita jumped, surprised to see Juno standing in front of their cell. He pressed his thumb to the keypad and the door slid open with the Theia’s calm voice announcing ‘door opening.’

“Mistah Steel?” Rita asked, cautiously approaching.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a teary reunion, look you guys have to go it won’t be long before mine is back on and I’m taking potshots at you again,” Juno said, jerking a thumb towards the exit. “Get going.”

“Your what?” Nureyev asked, already knowing the answer. Juno sighed and pulled the collar of his shirt down to show a Theia Soul gone dark, in sleep mode maybe. It also showed a great deal of burned flesh around the chip, some of it looked fresh. 

“Oh, Mistah Steel,” Rita gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. 

“What did I just say?” Juno growled. “Get going. This thing’ll come back on any minute now.”

“Rita, we have to get to the control room. Shut them all off,” Nureyev said, taking Rita’s hand. Juno stepped aside to let them pass, but they hadn’t gone far before he spoke up again.

“D-do you really have to turn them off?” he asked in a quiet voice. 

Nureyev only let himself freeze for a second. Then he kept walking, pulling Rita with him. 

Juno was left standing there, alone, wondering which one of his selves asked that question.


	7. Chapter 7

Nureyev locked the door behind them as Rita set up. They were able to find their gear not far from the cells, so Rita had what she needed to hack and Nureyev had his knife. So long as no one interrupted them now they would succeed and all of this would soon be a bad memory. 

“It’s just as tricky as taking them off a person,” Rita commented, typing away frantically. “But I can do it. I just need time.”

Nureyev heard footsteps approaching and backed away from the door, knife at the ready. “Well I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t think time is much of an option at the moment.”

The doorknob wiggled, and then someone pounded on the door. There was silence for a second, then someone kicked the door. Again, and again, and then finally the door was thrown inwards, slamming against the wall and sending splinters everywhere. It was Juno of course, the infamous Mayor right behind him. 

“Good work, Juno,” Ramses said. “Seems we’ve found our saboteurs.”

“Step away from computer,” Juno said, voice even and steady as the hands on his gun. 

“No, I rather think I’m comfortable right where I am,” Nureyev said. “And you, Juno? Are you enjoying your position?”

Juno didn’t answer, just stared. 

“You don’t have to do this,” Nureyev said, slowly lowering his knife. “You helped us before. I know you’re still in there.”

“Juno don’t let him trick you,” Ramses insisted. “You know this is best. We’re doing good here… if there’s bugs in the system we can work them out, but turning all the Theias off right now would be catastrophic and you know it!”

“He’s using you!” Nureyev said. “Just let us work, this will all be over soon.”

“You’re my partner, Juno,” Ramses said, his breathing labored. He had a hand on his chest, and Nureyev found himself wondering if the good Mayor practiced what he preached and wore a Theia. “I know this is hard, but it will be over quickly if you just shoot them!”

“Don’t shoot, Juno,” Nureyev said. 

“Shoot!” Ramses insisted. 

Juno was sweating, his hands shaking. He looked back and forth from Nureyev to Ramses, his frown deepening. 

“We just need a little more time,” Nureyev said. “You’ll see once we’ve finished, you’ll remember.”

“You’ll remember pain, you’ll remember sorrow and hurt and so will everyone else in Newtown,” Ramses said, pressing a hand to the wall as if to steady himself. “You have to protect them, Juno. You’re Newtown’s guardian, you have to keep them safe.”

“And what about Rita? And Small Fry?” Nureyev said. “Don’t you want them safe too?”

“Almost done,” Rita muttered, her fingers flashing across the keyboard. 

“Juno…” Ramses rasped, his hand clutching at his chest. “Shoot!”

Juno felt something on his cheek, wet and hot. A tear, he guessed. 

_ Well? _ Juno asked.  _ You just gonna leave them hanging? _

Juno’s arms fell to his sides, he dropped his gun to the floor. He lowered himself down to his knees, looking lost. “I’m sorry…” he muttered, to who he wasn’t entirely sure. 

But then he shuddered, and grabbed for his gun again. His voice, matching evenly with that of the Theia: “give up.”

“Juno,” Nureyev raised his knife again. “Juno, fight it.”

“G̭̼̟i̼̻̪͚͙͙͐ͥͭͫͅv̠ͥĕ͊ͥ ̳͇̄͊̉ͪͨ̈́u͆ͥp̩̰ ̩͎̎͆̅c͈̖̱͎͆ͩo̙ͤṉ̔̑t̞̏ͯ̓ͪ̿r̪̤̯̀ͧ͊̋ͪͣͦo̜̣̦̝̤̓̂̿͊̀ͥl͎̣̙̠̩̰̯̓̇͆̆ͪ” the Theia and Juno said. “G̭̼̟i̼̻̪͚͙͙͐ͥͭͫͅv̠ͥĕ͊ͥ ̳͇̄͊̉ͪͨ̈́u͆ͥp̩̰ ̩͎̎͆̅c͈̖̱͎͆ͩo̙ͤṉ̔̑t̞̏ͯ̓ͪ̿r̪̤̯̀ͧ͊̋ͪͣͦo̜̣̦̝̤̓̂̿͊̀ͥl͎̣̙̠̩̰̯̓̇͆̆ͪ.”

He aimed the gun at Nureyev, his hand jerking like a puppet on a string. His eye was wide and glazed and his breathing was shallow. “G̱͙̈́ͯīv͉̼̹̖̟̪̔ͩ̐͂̌ê̦͕̭͖̙͓̝ͧ̄ͪ ̦͆͑̅ͭü̮̖̦̥̥̖̇͗ͫ̎p͇͓̆ͅ ̤̪̟ͣc̘̭͇̘̲͂̅̅̓͌o͖̫̗̣̤̥ͤn͉͚̬͑ͥ̊̏͗̅ͣt͕͕̒ͬr͖̐͑̋ͮ̐ͣ̂o̼̪̭͍̹̯̖ͨͪͨ̓̐̃l̋̉̏ ̣͖͔̫̳͐͆ͧ̈t͍̗̗͛͋͑ͤ̿ͣ̓ͅͅȍ̩̪̔̀͗͆̆ ͎͓̩̉̐t̞̲̠̰̙̝͖ͧ̏̄̒ͪ͊h̪̗̑ͫ̂̔̚e͍̪̥̱̫͖ ̻̞͕͇͖̘̘͋̆͋ͥ̈͊͊T͙͉̝̝̯͇ͮ̉̌̈͌̉̄h̬̻̲̣͕̺̓̐́̊͌e̲͉̝̮͈ͣ̇̈ͅï͔͖̟̼̝͇̆͗ͥ̆̚̚a̞̖̩͙̦͉ ̳͖̭̫͗̅S̩̺͔̫̜͑̋̍̃̓ͅoͮ̀u͇̩̳̲͒l͈̞̦̞̮̞͚ͯ͆͛̒”

“Done!” Rita shouted, hitting a button. The red screen that bathed the room in its light suddenly sparked and went dim. In the darkness Rita heard a gunshot, the sound of Juno screaming, and two bodies hitting the floor. She panicked, searched around desperately for a light. She pawed at the walls until she found a switch and flicked it on, fluorescent lights humming as they turned on. She found Nureyev kneeling on the ground, cradling Juno in his arms. Mayor O’Flaherty was on the ground too, laying motionless. 

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god did he shoot you? Are you okay? Is he okay?” Rita ran over to Nureyev and Juno. 

“I’m fine, his shot went wide,” Nureyev said. “A-and I think he’s okay he’s breathing anyway…”

“The mayor…” Rita said, looking over to Ramses’s body.

“Heart attack I would guess. He was holding his chest like a lifeline the entire time,” Nureyev said. 

Juno stirred in his arms, groaning and reaching for his Soul. He pushed away from Nureyev weakly, half crawling over to Ramses. 

“Damn it… you don’t get to die yet…” he wheezed, yanking his Soul from his skin. He pulled Ramses into his arms. “I’m not done with you. You… you have to answer for all of this… I’m not done…” 

Juno uselessly pressed the Soul onto Ramses’s chest, but it was broken beyond repair, just like Jack Takano. “Fuck you… fuck… you don’t get to die. You don’t get to just die on me after everything you did you owe me! You owe me and Benzaiten, and Sarah, you owe… you said you owed us… you can’t die now you still…”

Juno was sobbing now, rocking back and forth with Ramses in his arms. “Fuck you. I… I hate you… so much…” 

Nureyev pulled Juno away, it was easy enough given the detective was no stronger than a ragdoll at the moment. Juno turned into Nureyev’s chest and cried. He cried until he felt emptied out inside, and then he let Nureyev and Rita lead him outside.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Juno felt Small Fry’s nose press against his hand. He absentmindedly lifted his hand to pat her head. When she persisted he passed her the plate of food he was supposed to be eating, and chuckled when she squealed in delight and dug in. 

“The old ‘feeding it to the rabbit’ trick won’t work, Juno,” Nureyev said. “I’m hurt, honestly. I know my cooking leaves much to be desired but I really tried this time! And you could really use something to eat, you can’t just keep ignoring everything we put in front of you.”

“Oh shut up,” Juno grumbled into his coffee. “You’re not my mom.”

He was sitting at the window, breathing in the city air. He’d missed the smell of smog and the sound of sirens. He didn’t even mind the height right now, he wanted to see the city properly again. His old apartment, his old stomping grounds, good old Hyperion City full of filth and free will. 

People were still reeling after the Theia incident. Hundreds of people suddenly free, and not all of them happy about it. The mayor was dead, and what authority the city had left was struggling to keep things afloat as they figured out what to do about it all. 

It had been weeks, and Nureyev still hadn’t left yet. He just slept on Juno’s couch and fretted over him and played with Small Fry when she got too energetic for Juno. That first night when he helped Juno limp through the door, the first thing he’d done after depositing Juno into his bed was pour out all the booze and go shopping to fill the fridge. 

Juno could see Nureyev frowning at him out of the corner of his eye. He walked up and shooed Small Fry away from Juno’s lunch and put the plate back at Juno’s side.

“Well now you have to eat a sandwich a sewer rabbit licked. That’s your consequence. Happy now?”

“Just let her have it, she’s your cooking’s biggest fan she deserves it,” Juno said. 

“She’s not the one I’m worried about wasting away,” Nureyev said. “I’m not made for this domestic life, Juno and yet you keep making me live it. Tsk.”

Juno sighed, and took an exaggerated bite of his sandwich, rolling his eyes and flipping Nureyev off. Nureyev seemed satisfied with that and went back to doing dishes. Small Fry jumped up into Juno’s lap and curled up there. Juno thought about how happy he should be right now. He had… a man he… cared for taking care of him, he had a rabbit warm in his lap, he had his freedom back, he should be happy. 

But he didn’t feel happy.

“Was I happy before either?” he asked himself, and he didn’t answer himself. There was only one Juno now, and he was stuck with himself wherever he went. 

“What?” Nureyev asked, and Juno blanched, he’d forgotten Nureyev would hear. 

“I just…” he stammered. “I don’t know if I was happy…but it felt better than I usually do. I was better than I usually am. I took care of myself for starters, I didn’t spend all day in bed until you come and get me and make me shower and eat...”

Nureyev paused, and wiped his hands on a dishcloth before walking back over to Juno. “When you had that thing in you, you weren’t yourself. You weren’t making those choices. Any happiness you felt wasn’t yours to own.”

“I guess…” Juno shrugged. “But other people were happier with me…”

“Speak for yourself,” Nureyev snorted and Juno cringed. 

“I mean…  c’mon Nureyev first thing you did when we came back was get rid of anything I could use to self destruct you know what I’m like, clearly, which would you rather have? This broken mess or…” he trailed off. 

“I don’t think my opinion of you should factor so heavily into whether or not you think you’re performing at your best,” Nureyev said. “But for what it matters, I prefer Juno Steel, and I’d take him with all his flaws and failings just like I did before because I’ve seen the things you do and it’s filled my heart to the brim until it spilled out everywhere.”

“Gross,” Juno snorted, earning an eye roll from Nureyev. 

“You’re capable of change, and you know it. You haven’t been as uncooperative as you think these past few weeks. The Juno from before would have found a way to get drunk anyway, told me to get out or tried to slip out the window to get away from me, would have shouted more.”

“Yeah, thanks, great pep talk, Nureyev,” Juno huffed.

“What I’m saying is, it’s better to strive for progress rather than perfection,” Nureyev said. “I rather be here as you change then have you change overnight just to be what some old man thinks is good.”

Juno groaned and ran his hands over his face. “I’m exhausted.”

“Do you want to take a nap?”

“No, I mean well yes, but I’m not just like tired tired, I’m  _ tired _ you know?”

“I know.”

Nureyev took a seat on the windowsill, just to the right and in front of Juno. He looked at him. Juno looked back and remembered there was something he owed Nureyev.

“I’m sorry. For real. I… was shitty.”

“Which time you were shitty are you apologizing for?”

“Don’t be a dick!” Juno scowled, and that made Nureyev laugh. 

“I forgive you,” he said, reaching forward and cupping Juno’s cheek in one hand. Juno closed his eye, his lips parting slightly. He leaned into the touch, practically whimpering when Nureyev’s lips met his. They kissed, and parted a long while later hungry for breath. 

“Hm. Maybe I am happy,” Juno said. Nureyev chuckled, and kissed him again.

 


End file.
